Awake - Part I

“There weren’t always dragons in the Valley.”

The procession stopped abruptly and the general turned, trotted down a few steps to face her.

“What do you mean?”

She scanned the huddle of soldiers and dignitaries.

“When I was last...here…there weren’t dragons.” The words caught in her throat.

“Well, when you were last here was a while back. Times have changed Your Royal Highness, Sonna Krasunya.” The general clicked his heels and bowed but his tone was far from deferential.

A few titters rippled through the tight gathering as the general paced forward to lead the group upward through the cavernous stairwell.

She stomped out her rage and embarrassment on each of the stone steps, walking silent and alone among the chatter. The staircase opened out into a large cave, luxuriously appointed with sumptuous furniture and velvets, torchlight dancing off silverware. She received a goblet of wine and took in the scene. Musicians and dancing girls weaving through the crowd, half-naked servants weighed down by loaded platters. The real spectacle, however, was outside.

The Valley was, in fact, the crater of a long dormant volcano; a lush, blue-green, disc of field and firs. The record for navigating its circumference on foot was a little over three hours. But going in circles was all that could be done. The foliage gave way to steep rocky walls, a solid ring fortress of earth.

On the inner side of the steep volcano walls, viewing caves had been cut into the rock, each one looking out to the Valley, and across at each other. A natural and imposing amphitheatre. She noticed the warm flicker of torchlight dotted around the mountain.

“Was it like this when you knew it?” The party host, Prefect Linyvets, was beside her, dressed head to toe in black silk, a heavy gold chain straining around his fleshy neck.

“There were caves, maybe not this many, it’s hard to tell in this light.”

“Well, Your Highness, the sun is coming up and that’s when the games begin.”

He ushered her to the long opening with a clear view of the Valley.

“The soldiers have started the fires, they light the way and show off this week’s buffet.” He pointed out the activity below.

Girls and boys dressed in white walked into the Valley, standing at even intervals in the shape of a cross.

“Come dawn, any moment now, we’ll lower the shutters, turn off our lights and watch.”

She looked at the iron bars suspended by chains above the opening and then into the Valley where the children waited on their fate.

“Will they all die?”

“Most likely, dragons take some feeding…I am always surprised by their consumption…but it is possible one or two will survive this offering. They’ll be put out again next time. That’s how it works.” He scoffed down a cream-filled pastry.

“Why don’t they run?”

“Nowhere to run. And they don’t want to disgrace their families. Rewards are only given for a noble death.” Cream dribbled down his chin.

The general from the staircase, Nartsys, tapped him on the shoulder. “It’s time.”

“Oooh, good.” Linyvets clapped his hands; the music stopped and the iron bars lowered. He took his place front and centre on a plush chair while the party-goers jostled around him for the second best vantage point. The servants doused the torches. The scene outside was lit by the fires on the Valley floor and the dim grey of breaking dawn.

“This is my favourite part. Listen.” General Natsys stood uncomfortably close.

At first, she could only hear Nartsys’ heavy breathing but then she caught the loud, long, whip, an alien sound.

“Devil’s wings,” he whispered gleefully.

A flash of something and a rush of air. Linyvets angrily hushed the crowd’s gasps of excitement. She was silent, making every effort to keep quiet and stay in place.

“Your first dragon Sonnyy?”

She hated the names given to her; “Sonnyy” or “Sonna Krasunya” meaning sleepy or sleepy beauty. She was a joke, a mystery, even to herself.

Seven weeks before she had opened her eyes after a cursed, century-long slumber. Her mind a fog, surrounded by strangers in a world that was as foreign as it was familiar. The glass casket in which she had been laid out was not practical for a conscious princess. It cracked and smashed loudly when she moved, a rude awakening if ever there was one.

The first screams peeled across the Valley and echoed up the rocky walls. She winced, wishing she was back at the palace in that glass display case, fast asleep, unaware of the adoring public filing past, unaware of dragons, unaware of everything.

Natsys grabbed her neck, forcing her to watch.

“You’ve been dozing a hundred years Sonna Krasunya, you deserve some entertainment.”

She closed her eyes against the massacre below and the dragons circling above.

“General please, some decorum. This is our royal guest” Linyvets waddled his way over to them, not best pleased.

The general released his grip. “She is more witch than princess.”

“Witch or princess, she is my guest.”

The squeal of the last child rang out as a dragon took her in his teeth. Linyvets broke off from staring down the general, looked over his shoulder at the action.

“And now I have missed everything. General, I am most upset.”

“I shall be sure to make it up to you Prefect. Perhaps, next time you will consider your guest list more carefully.”

“I will accept your favour for tonight’s rudeness but forgive me for refusing your advice. My viewing room, my choice of companions. Have you tried the fish eggs Highness?”

The prefect gobbled down a giant spoonful of orange caviar. The general stormed off down the stairs with an entourage following close behind.

“Svolochy”, she swore under her breath. Helpfully, expletives were among the few things her long-asleep mind had retained.

The prefect’s daughter, Zmiya, approached silently while her father chewed, mouth open. “Boys. All of them. Don’t let them bother you, Princess.”

Sonnyy recoiled. One lesson she’d learned in these waking weeks; the quieter and kinder the words, the more suspect the speaker.

The assembly applauded the departing dragons. She wondered if the dragons knew their spectators were the more terrifying breed of monster.

Awake Part II coming soon